* Liberty closes NTL Ireland deal
Liberty Global Inc. said UPC Ireland B.V. has completed its acquisition of NTL Ireland, the largest cable operator in the Republic of Ireland.
As of Sept. 30, NTL Ireland served 358,800 video customers and 16,100 high-speed data subs.
The deal expands Liberty’s scope in the market, where it already serves 201,100 revenue generating units via Chorus, another MSO owned by Liberty Global.
* Tulsat, S-A extend distribution deal
Tulsat, a division of ADDvantage Technologies Group Inc., has scored a three-year extension for its domestic distributor deal with Scientific-Atlanta.
Under the deal, Tulsat will continue as an exclusive distributor for “select” S-A headend and transmission gear for U.S. customers through Jan. 15, 2009. Financial terms were not disclosed.
* Movielink bows ‘family-friendly’ fare
Web-based rental firm Movielink has launched a “family-friendly” Web site that offers primarily G- and PG-rated movies, educational documentaries and cartoons.
In concert with the launch, Movielink is slashing 50 percent off the first downloaded title. Movielink is a joint venture of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Universal Studios and Warner Bros.
* Trilithic adds EAS tech director
Trilithic has named Arthur Leisey to the newly-created position of director of technology of the company’s Emergency Alert System (EAS) division.
Leisey, most recently the senior applications engineer of the division, will research and develop new concepts and architectures for all aspects of digital EAS communications. He will direct a technical support team from Trilithic’s EAS testing and verification lab in Asheville, N.C.
* Entropic says its chips are fit to ship
Entropic Communications said it has shipped its 100,000th c.LINK-270 chipset, which began production shipments in December 2004.
To date, Entropic is the lone silicon member of the Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA), a group that backs the use of home coaxial networks to distribute IP applications at a theoretical rate of 270 Mbps. Entropic also makes a broadband access platform that provides speeds of up to 100 Mbps. Jupiter Communications of Japan is using that technology in partnership with Panasonic to serve some multiple dwelling units (MDUs).